MSG

[SeanMike]

I found this article about MSG on Buzzfeed to be pretty darn interesting - especially for the history and current status of it, but also for the debunking of a number of the myths about it.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/johnmahoney/the-notorious-msgs-unlikely-formula-for-success

[DonRocks]

I found this article about MSG on Buzzfeed to be pretty darn interesting - especially for the history and current status of it, but also for the debunking of a number of the myths about it.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/johnmahoney/the-notorious-msgs-unlikely-formula-for-success

I wonder how much (if anything) David Chang is being paid to do this.

Something tells me the answer isn't "nothing."

[Barbara]

I'm just wondering how many us of grew up with our Mothers keeping a container of "Accent" in the cabinet as a "meat tenderizer?" It is pure MSG--if one can use the term "pure" in this context.

[johnb]

I wonder how much (if anything) David Chang is being paid to do this.

Something tells me the answer isn't "nothing."

Chang has gone on record previously debunking the MSG myth.  I doubt anybody is paying him to do it; but that question aside, I have no doubt that he in fact truly understands that the whole MSG thing is, yes, a myth, understands how useful it along with other sources of glutamates are in cooking, is personally disgusted with the nonsense surrounding the issue (pretty clear from his language), and just wants to participate in setting the record straight.

I use fish sauce in everything.  Same thing.  Same purpose.

I have followed this issue for years.  There has never been to my knowledge a properly administered double blind test of MSG that showed it has the claimed effects. To the contrary, the result of such studies always has been that nobody can reliably point to any effect it has, other than improving flavor of course. The article, in essence, is right; there simply is no credible scientific evidence that there is anything wrong with it. It has become a national bugaboo.  In my curmudgeonly opinion, those who persist in spreading the myth are to food what the "tea party" is to politics -- driven by beliefs and ideologies, rejecting all the evidence because it doesn't fit their prior conception, and living in a fact-free zone.

There, I said it.

Don't get me started on GMO's.

[DonRocks]

Chang has gone on record previously debunking the MSG myth.  I doubt anybody is paying him to do it; but that question aside, I have no doubt that he in fact truly understands that the whole MSG thing is, yes, a myth, understands how useful it along with other sources of glutamates are in cooking, is personally disgusted with the nonsense surrounding the issue (pretty clear from his language), and just wants to participate in setting the record straight.

Really? Because I say "Fuck David Chang" - not personally, but as a "Best Chef" kind-of thing. And maybe I'm the only person who considers him insignificant enough to say that to (but from what I regularly hear from other chefs who won't go on-record, probably not). I couldn't care less if he wins the national Beard Award next year - he's no more significant to me than José Andrés (who was a James Beard semifinalist for "OUTSTANDING RESTAURANT IN THE NATION" this year with Jaleo courtesy of, um, never mind), and maybe even less so: he opened a fricking *ramen bar*- that was, yes, perhaps better, or, at least, more conscientious, than Ren's or Toki - at the right time.

Aren't I a fucking snob for thinking he may not deserve "Best Chef in the United States" for doing this? *God* I'm a snob.

That said, if he cashes in and earns his millions, more power to him. And I'll add: I went to that ramen bar 15 minutes before it opened, many, many years ago, before he opened his second restaurant, and *loved* it, so it's not like I don't care about what he did; only that I don't consider him "the best chef in the United States" - he's a Restaurateur. And a smart one.

And one that is perhaps being paid by the multi-billion-dollar Big ChemicalFood industry to promote MSG.

In my curmudgeonly opinion, those who persist in spreading the myth are to food what the "tea party" is to politics -- driven by beliefs and ideologies, rejecting all the evidence because it doesn't fit their prior conception, and living in a fact-free zone.

Blow me, industrial, HFCS-purchasing maggot. How's that Karo Molasses on them-thare pancakes, griddled in oleomargarine? They okay, right? (Corn ee goo fo yoo.)

I'm sorry, let me rephrase that. "In my curmudgeonly opinion, those who persist in supporting industrial, chemically manufactured products are to food what the "tea party" is to politics -- driven by beliefs and ideologies, rejecting all the evidence because it doesn't fit their prior conception, and living in a fact-free zone."

There, I said it.

Don't get me started on GMO's.

[johnb]

Sorry Rocks, but opinions and beliefs don't change the science.  The science says there's nothing wrong with MSG.  Period.

Umami is like love -- sometimes you just need to take it where you can find it.  Ask Eliot Spitzer.

There's an interesting and pertinent piece in this morning's NYT.

Excuse me, but I need to run out for some Parmigiano-Reggiano and a bag of Doritos.